Silver Leaf Tales: Tying the knot
by Mannah Pierce
Summary: Naruto & Sasuke were friends & rivals but now they are lovers. What does it mean to each of them? Will their differences stand between them? One-shot from a world in which Naruto is a fox-human hybrid & Uchiha is a powerful spacer clan. M/M Yaoi AU Sci-Fi


This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.

**Tying the knot** is m part of a space saga that includes **In the cold of space you find the heat of suns**.

Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta.

_Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment._

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**Silver Leaf Tales: Tying the knot**

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This is a standalone one-shot. Naruto and Sasuke are both cats (trainees) in the crew of the Silver Leaf (a spacecraft with a crew of nine). They are sixteen and have just moved from being friends to being lovers.

_It is set between chapter 16 'Aftermath' and chapter 17 'The beginning' of 'In the cold of space you find the heat of suns'._

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Naruto watched Sasuke sleep.

He stretched out a hand and stroked the messy black hair and touched the pale, smooth skin with the very tips of his fingers. He inhaled, savouring the complexity of the scent that was Sasuke.

He could see every long, curving eyelash. He held his hand in front of Sasuke's mouth to feel the warmth of his breath.

Two days ago this person had been his friend and rival. Behind those realities there had been a vague, formless, churning notion that there was something more. Two days ago that uncertainty had crystallised into this.

His Sasuke.

Before joining the Silver Leaf life had been hard. Purebred humans fit and hybrids did not. Hybrids did not have families and he had no memory of where he came from. Survival was all that counted; finding food and staying warm.

Being cute helped. It spared him kicks and gained him food. While he was little, people saw his foxy whiskers and overlooked his canine fangs. Having blond hair and blue eyes was useful.

And a problem; certain men liked boys with blond hair and blue eyes. Communities did not tolerate men who liked little boys but they did not care what such men did to hybrids.

Naruto learnt to kick, to bite and to run fast.

There had been those who cared: the crazy old woman who lived beside the fan; the man who worked cleaning the market; the addict who cuddled him and called him her baby; the orphanage.

Not that the orphanage's brand of caring had suited him.

One of the older boys at the orphanage had told him about spacing. You cleaned yourself up and went to the plaza. If a crew showed an interest you told them that you were fourteen but small for your age.

Naruto told them that all fox-human hybrids looked young.

It worked.

On the plus side was food, shelter and the possibility of a future.

The downside was being fucked and the unpredictability of some of his crewmates.

Crews challenged for him, swapped him, bet him and used him to pay off debts.

He learned skills. He survived. He grew older.

His body changed. He had dreams. He would wake from the dreams to find his prick had a lump and had squirted.

The men squirted but their pricks didn't go lumpy.

Then an older cat hit him and he flipped. He was lucky, when they threw him out of the airlock it was into air and not vacuum; the ship was in dock.

He cleaned himself up and found another crew.

This time he flipped during a free-for-all fight in a bar. When he came to his senses he was alone in an alley with blood in his mouth, on his chin and down his chest.

None of the blood was his.

He cleaned himself up and tried again. This time the crew was made up of brutal, effective fighters who accepted and implemented contracts. The worst of them was Ken.

He was far too terrified of Ken to flip, which was good.

Ken liked him, which was bad.

Then Kakashi-sensei killed Ken, Naruto joined the Silver Leaf and his life began.

And, two standards later, he was here, watching the person who meant more to him than anyone or anything else in known space. The person he would live his life for. The person he would die for.

Naruto leaned forward and sampled his scent.

Eyelashes fluttered and dark eyes focused. Slim, pale arms snaked out from under the cover and around his neck. The brush of a cheek against his own and then they were chest to chest in a hug.

"Good morning, dobe," Sasuke whispered.

A lift, a shake to dislodge the cover and a twist and Naruto had a naked Sasuke sitting in his lap. He ran his hand down the curve of his back, feeling the muscles and bones under the flawless skin, and then rested it on Sasuke's hip.

"I need the head," Sasuke told him and slipped off his lap, into sleepshorts and over the edge of the bunk. Naruto heard him land softly on the floor.

He twitched one of the drapes to one side to watch him walking away. Then he waited. Then he watched him walking back towards their bunk.

Sasuke smiled at him.

He smiled back.

Sasuke climbed back up, shed the sleepshorts and sat looking at him.

"You are very quiet this morning, dobe," he suggested.

"Watching you," Naruto admitted.

Sasuke coloured slightly but his eyes softened and he stretched out a hand to tickle Naruto under his chin. Naruto craned his neck to give him better access. His whiskers curved forward and his eyes closed. He purred softly.

"Have you thought more about what I told you last night?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked towards the wooden box with the Uchiha crest on its lid that was at the foot of their bunk, close to the wall.

"You are Sasuke Uchiha," he acknowledged. "You are going to rebuild your clan." Naruto remembered the plaque in his lockbox, the symbol of his commitment. The crest on his plaque was the same as the one on the box; the same as on the ring Sasuke had shown him. "I am going to protect you while you do it."

Sasuke leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

"You are much more than my bodyguard, Naruto. You are my Beloved Companion," he reminded him.

Naruto hesitated, but he said it. "You gave me the plaque to stop them killing me."

Sasuke studied him with serious eyes. "No, Naruto, I gave you the plaque because I could not bear the thought of living without you."

Naruto thought about it. Sasuke could not feel about him the way he felt about Sasuke. Two days ago Naruto had changed. Sasuke was now the centre of his world. Naruto needed to know where Sasuke was, preferably to hear him and to smell him, ideally to see him and to touch him.

"Dobe?" Sasuke queried.

"I will try to be everything you want me to be," Naruto promised. "Just never send me away from you."

Sasuke frowned. "Why would I want to send you away?" he asked.

Naruto's heart fell. Sasuke did not understand. How could he; he was purebred.

Sasuke's frown melted into concern. "I shall never send you away, Naruto. You are my Beloved Companion. You will be with me always. I give you my word."

They were the words Naruto needed to hear. He smiled.

* * *

"Never send me away from you," Naruto requested.

Sasuke was puzzled. Why was Naruto talking about being sent away? Naruto was the last person Sasuke wanted to be separated from. And why was he so quiet?

"Why would I want to send you away?" he queried.

The sudden sadness in Naruto's eyes cut deep. His whiskers drooped. Sasuke realised immediately that his reply had fallen short.

"I shall never send you away, Naruto," he promised. "You are my Beloved Companion. You will be with me always. I give you my word."

And Naruto smiled. It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

Sasuke would do almost anything to see that smile.

Them fucking had changed everything and nothing.

He was still the most important person in Naruto's life and Naruto was still the most important person in his. But Naruto had changed. He was more intense and every iota of that extra intensity was focused on Sasuke.

Sasuke refused to be frightened by it, just as he refused to be frightened by Naruto's teeth, or his superhuman speed, or his extraordinary strength, or the fact he was a berserker, or seeing him rip someone's throat out. It was another feature that made Naruto special, like his whiskers and his fur and his foxy prick.

And Naruto was wonderfully, uniquely special; Sasuke knew that.

He was the gift from Lady Luck that had changed Sasuke's life.

Perhaps he had changed more than Naruto, only more gradually. It was an interesting thought and one worthy of consideration. Sasuke knew that before Naruto he had been frozen and empty, terrified of his own emotions because they were so raw and painful; acutely alone and determined to remain so.

Even now it was risky for Sasuke to think about his childhood. He still loved his mother, but if he thought of her the image of her dead body would fill his mind. He would smell her blood and see her staring, dull eyes.

There were other, safer memories. Many of them involved Itachi with or without Kisame-san. Itachi would be pretending that having Sasuke tag along was annoying but Kisame-san would always wink his one small eye to remind Sasuke that they both knew how much Itachi loved him.

Kisame's plaque had been embedded in his forehead, where no one could possibly miss it. Sasuke wished that Naruto could wear his. Not in his forehead, Sasuke could not bear that, but perhaps on a soft leather collar around his neck, or on his upper arm, or anywhere that other people would see it.

One day it would happen, when he was openly Uchiha-sama and Naruto stood beside him.

He thought back to when he had joined the Silver Leaf as cat. He had not thought of himself as unhappy. It had been better than the routine of living in Hiruzen-sama's household with a succession of tutors. It had been much better than school, which had far more poor experiences than good and which had ended abruptly when a reporter had found him.

It had been interesting to be second-best to Shikamaru. It had been humbling to fail in all aspects of a cat's role that required intimacy. He had been drawn to Kakashi-sensei because this man had dedicated himself to Sasuke on the promise that Sasuke would grow into someone worth fourteen standards of a man's life.

Inside, Sasuke had known he was not worth it: he was cracked; broken; flawed. Kakashi had agreed with him. Sasuke had seen his disappointment.

The younger Sasuke could not bear to be strong, cruel and ruthless like his father and he was not capable of being resilient, warm and loving like his mother. He had decided to exist. He would hold the place and try to raise a son who was worthy of a man like Kakashi-sensei's service.

Then a ball of sunshine and energy had bounced into his life. Naruto illuminated darkness and incinerated doubt. He had warmed Sasuke's heart, first as a rival and then as a friend. Slowly Sasuke had mended. Hope and then pride had replaced Kakashi-sensei's disappointment.

He could be his mother but with his father's strength. He would build a new Uchiha worthy of men like Kakashi-sensei's service. He had Naruto's eyes and whiskers as his guide. If Naruto's blue eyes were sad, if his whiskers drooped, Sasuke was falling short. It did not matter that Naruto was no genius. It was as if he had an inbuilt detector that responded to everything that was constructive and was repelled by the corrosive.

Perhaps he was a different type of genius.

Between them and Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei and Shikamaru, they would create a new Uchiha that Sasuke could be proud to hand on to his son.

He watched Naruto watching him. Physically, Naruto had changed. He was taller and still growing. His shoulders were broad, hinting at his power. His slender limbs were long, giving him most of his height; when they were seated their heads were level. His waist and hips were deliciously narrow. His tan skin now had the lightest covering of tiny golden hairs that were longer across his buttocks and down his legs. His voice was deeper and the foxy noises he made, particularly the growl and the howl, carried much further.

But his eyes were the same, and his hair, and his whiskers, and his smile.

And they were lovers, which was amazing.

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me," Sasuke told him.

He was rewarded with another smile.

"You are the centre of my world," Naruto replied.

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...

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_You can read about this Sasuke and this Naruto got to this point and what happens next in 'In the cold of space you find the heat of suns'._

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...

* * *

**The complete series**

_This is the order of the stories in this series_

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**In the cold of space you find the heat of suns** chapters 1-16

_Can his spacer crew keep Sasuke alive and his identity secret so he survives to lead a new Uchiha? Will the fox-boy they acquire affect Kakashi's carefully laid plans?_

* * *

Silver Leaf Tales: **Tying the knot**

_Naruto and Sasuke were friends & rivals but now they are lovers. What does it mean to each of them? Will their differences stand between them?_

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**In the cold of space you find the heat of suns** chapters 17-91

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Tales in Tarrasade 1 – **The Cook and the Nursemaid**

_Can Choza break the bad habit of a lifetime and find someone who appreciates him?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 2 - **Knives**

_Can Lee make himself extraordinary enough to counter Gaara's obsession with beautiful blonds?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 3 -** Vacation**

_Shikamaru decides that Naruto needs cheering up._

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Tales in Tarrasade 4 – **Pas de Trois** - Chapter 1 Partners in the dance

_Can Haku circumvent all their problems and achieve his aim of melding him, Kisame and Itachi into a threesome?_

* * *

Tales in Tarrasade 5 - **Kiba's day off**

_Iruka persuades Kiba to have a day off while Sasuke and Naruto are away. Surely they can cope looking after Naruto's litter for a single day?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 6 - **Friendship**

_Sometimes being friends is more important than being lovers. That's what Inari thinks but will Konohamaru agree?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 4 - **Pas de Trois** - Chapter 2 Kisame's miracle

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Tales in Tarrasade 7 - **Honour your parents**

_Shikamaru receives a message that sends him into a funk. Can the crew help him out?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 8 – **Patron** [2 chapters]

_His relationship with The Last Uchiha has made Naruto the most famous hybrid in known space. Can he use his fame to help other hybrid?_

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Tales in Tarrasade 9 - **Homeward bound**

_Gaara has decided to return to Kaze and Lee, of course, will go with him._

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Tales in Tarrasade 10 - **Opening the cage**

_Kakashi realises Iruka is depressed, but why?_

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**Iteration** Chapters 1-13

_Continuing the space saga about Sasuke, Naruto, their children and their family. Enemies emerge as Uchiha thrives & Naruto champions other hybrids - a testing time for New Uchiha._

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Tales in Tarrasade 4 – **Pas de Trois** - Chapter 3 First steps

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**Iteration** Chapters 14-16

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Tales in Tarrasade 11 - **Medico**

_Rin through someone else's eyes._

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**Iteration** Chapters 17-43

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Tales in Tarrasade 4 – **Pas de Trois** – Chapter 4 Needing

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**Iteration** Chapters 44-104

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Tales in Tarrasade 4 – **Pas de Trois** - Chapter 5 Princess

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**Iteration** Chapters 105 – 119

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**Real** [11 chapters]

_Set in Sasuke & Naruto's extended family. What makes someone real? Haru struggles with this and other issues as he begins to grow up._

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**Leader** [107 chapters]

_Follow Sasuke & Naruto's extended family. With Uchiha expanding, will opposition come from outside or within?_

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...


End file.
